Eric Waupekenay feeds his son, Jasper, 2, during the free Thanksgiving meal offered Wednesday at The Salvation Army Community Center in Green Bay.

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Area homeless shelters geared up all week to provide some kind of holiday cheer for what is appearing to be a record number of homeless people on this Thanksgiving Day.

"It's been through the roof all this season," Lexie Wood, executive director of St. John the Evangelist Homeless Shelter, said of the emergency shelter's population. "The biggest thing is the slow recovery to the economy, more people hanging on by a thread. ... I know every shelter in the area is at or near capacity."

St. John's shelter, located in the gymnasium of the former St. John's School, had 71 residents today, compared ...